The Time of Our Lives
by closeto30
Summary: "I think I'm your daughter." With one sentence, Pete and Myka's lives are changed forever. Post S5.


**A/N: Don't own Warehouse 13, but the love is strong here.**

* * *

"You know, Pete, if you just listened to Artie once in a while, you wouldn't get yourself into these situations," Myka Bering said as she smirked at her partner from the passenger seat of their SUV. The pair had been a team for such a long time that even though Pete Lattimer was wearing sunglasses, Myka could tell that he was rolling his eyes at her comment.

"I listen to Artie plenty," Pete drawled, draping his hands casually over the steering wheel. "Besides, the Warehouse didn't burn down, and my arm hair will grow back. There's no real harm done."

Myka shook her head in bemusement and smiled as she leaned back in her seat, absently resting her hand over her abdomen as she watched the barren landscape of the Dakota Badlands pass by. As they made their way into the sleepy town of Univille, Pete reached over and slid a hand over Myka's knee. Myka's cheeks warmed at his touch. She'd spent five years of her life working, bickering, and laughing alongside Pete as they travelled the globe on a mission to save the world from rogue artifacts, but it was when the adventure looked to be ending that Myka had realised that Pete was more than just her partner. He was her other half; her goofy, childish, sarcastic other half who drove her absolutely crazy, but her other half all the same. She loved him, and as it turned out, Pete felt the same. The scare that pulled them together had turned out to be nothing but a false alarm, but their relationship thrived on, much to the duo's surprise and delight. Pete and Myka had been a together as a couple for almost two years, and Myka loved that they'd been able to find a happy medium between work and play. Lines inevitably got blurred every once in a while, but it all loaned itself to the uniqueness of their relationship. Myka had thought many times in the past that she'd been in love, but no one had ever felt as right as Pete did. Sighing contentedly, Myka slid her own sunglasses to the top of her head so that she could take in Pete's profile. Pete's lips curled into a grin as he pulled the SUV to a stop outside the B&B.

"I believe you're staring at me, Myka Bering," he teased, switching the ignition off. Myka smiled coyly.

"I love you, Pete Lattimer," she whispered. Pete leaned over and cupped her face in his hand.

"I love you more," he murmured, catching her lips with his own. They shared a series of gentle kisses before Pete reluctantly pulled away, using his fingers to tuck Myka's wayward curls behind her ear.

"To be continued," he grinned playfully, and Myka chuckled as she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Pete rushed around the car to walk beside her, sliding his hand into the back pocket of her jeans as they stepped towards the B&B. Myka leaned into Pete's sturdy frame and laughed at one of his many off-hand remarks. She was so caught up in Pete's closeness that she almost didn't register the presence of a teenage girl perched on one of the benches outside the B&B's front door.

"Hello?" Pete called inquisitively, keeping a firm grip on Myka as they approached the front door. "Can we help you?"

The girl was seemingly engrossed in a novel, but her head shot up at the sound of Pete's voice. As they got closer to her, Myka was able to take in the girl's features in more detail. Her hair was a wild mass of bleach blonde curls, haphazardly captured in a hair elastic on the top of her head. A small stud glittered in her nose, and she wore too much make up for such a young girl, but there was something about her eyes that caused Myka's breath to catch in her throat. They were the exact shade of green Myka saw when she took in her own reflection in the mirror every morning.

"Oh, um, hi!" the teenager squeaked, slapping her book closed and scrambling to her feet. She took a step forward, and inhaled sharply when she locked eyes with Myka. She seemed to suddenly be at a loss for words, her mouth hanging slightly ajar.

"Are you waiting for Claudia?" Pete asked, and the girl slid her wide-eyed stare towards him.

"What?" she asked stupidly, and then shook her head as if to clear fogginess.

"I'm sorry," she said with a crooked smile. "I'm not looking for Claudia. I'm, uh, I'm actually looking for Myka Bering."

"I'm Myka Bering," Myka said softly, loosing herself from Pete's hold. The girl swallowed hard.

"I thought so," she murmured in an almost wistful tone, fiddling nervously with the wide dark metal ring she wore on her thumb.

Myka could feel her hands starting to shake.

"Why are you looking for me?" she asked, feeling the words stick in her throat.

The girl let out a shaky breath.

"My name is Josie. Josie Royle," she stated. She caught Myka in her wide-eyed gaze.

"I think I'm your daughter."

Myka let out a squeak and immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. Her legs suddenly felt like Jell-o, but she didn't realise that she was on the verge of collapse until Pete put his hands on her waist and pulled her back against him.

"Look, kid," Pete started gently, "I'm sure you mean well, but I think you're in the wrong place."

Josie bit down on her lower lip and stared Myka down. There was a pleading look in her eyes. Myka pulled herself away from Pete so that she could turn to face him. There were tears in her eyes that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Pete," she whispered, her voice cracking. "She's not in the wrong place."

Pete blinked back at her, and his face slowly drained of colour.

"I'm sorry, come again?"

Myka's face twitched as she fought to stop herself from crying. She flicked her confused gaze between Pete and Josie. Breathing shallowly, Pete set his jaw and glanced towards the curly-haired teenager.

"You're going to have to give us a minute," he said gruffly to Josie, who was barely able to nod her acknowledgement before Pete grabbed Myka by the wrist and dragged her into the house.

"You want to catch me up here, Mykes?" Pete hissed the second the front door closed behind them. Myka wrapped her arms around herself as her tears spilled over.

"Pete, I can explain," she begged, staring at him pleadingly.

"I don't think there's that much to explain!" Pete exclaimed. "You apparently have a kid, Myka, and you didn't think that was something worth sharing with me?"

"I was 18!" Myka shot back. "I gave her up! I've never told anybody about her!"

"I'm not just anybody, Myka!" Pete cried, hurt displayed all over his face. Myka stared back at him in anguish. She was about to respond when the door beside them suddenly swung open, and Claudia Donovan appeared, Josie by her side.

"Hey guys!" Claudia chirped. "I found this chick outside, she said that she was waiting for you, so I..." she trailed off as she took in the emotions etched on the faces of her friends.

"I've interrupted something here, haven't I?" Claudia commented uneasily. Pete shot Myka one last betrayed look before turning and storming up the stairs. Myka watched him go, fresh tears forming in her eyes. She turned to face Josie.

"Do you have somewhere to stay?" she croaked out. Josie bit her lip and nodded.

"There's a hotel in Featherhead," she said softly, and Myka nodded as she held out her hand and requested Josie's phone.

"Call me tomorrow," she instructed as she tapped her number into the handset. She sniffled as she handed the phone back to the teenager.

"I... I'm sorry. This is probably not what you expected."

"I'm not sure what I expected," Josie admitted softly, and Myka let out a small sigh.

"I just need some time," she said. "But if you call tomorrow, we'll talk. I promise."

Josie didn't look entirely convinced, but she nodded her acknowledgement and turned and headed towards the parked black Honda Civic that Myka had failed to see before. Claudia glanced at Myka, concern evident in her eyes.

"Myka, what's going on?" she asked gently. "Are you guys ok?"

Myka wiped at her tear-stained face with the palm of her hand.

"I have to talk to Pete," she said evasively. Claudia could only watch on with a troubled look on her face as Myka turned and took the stairs as quickly as she could.

* * *

The door to the room she shared with Pete was closed, and there was no sound coming from the other side. Myka hesitantly reached for the doorknob, and let out a sigh of relief when it turned in her hand. She found Pete sprawled out across their bed, scowling at the ceiling. He looked miserable, and Myka desperately wanted to throw herself onto the bed and curl up beside him.

"Pete," she murmured pleadingly, closing the door behind her. A muscle in Pete's jaw twitched, but otherwise, he didn't respond. Fighting the lump that formed in her throat, Myka perched on the edge of the bed and slid her hand across the mattress until her fingers touched Pete's. Pete snatched his hand away and pulled himself into a sitting position. Myka couldn't stop the hurt that flashed across her face.

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered as fresh tears worked their way down her cheeks.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Pete asked unhappily. Myka managed to shake her head forlornly before she broke down into gut-wrenching sobs. Pete swore under his breath as he scrambled across the bed and pulled his partner into his arms. Myka buried her head in his shoulder and wept.

"She isn't supposed to be here!" Myka wailed. "This isn't supposed to happen!"

Sighing, Pete rubbed his hand up and down Myka's arm and made soothing noises as he pressed his lips to the crown of her head. Eventually, Myka pulled away from Pete. She looked up at him mournfully as she wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. Pete reached out and wiped tears from under her eyes with his thumb.

"Mykes," he murmured. "Please, tell me what happened."

Myka's lower lip trembled, and she hiccupped as she struggled to regain her composure.

"It was the summer after my high school senior year," she eventually whispered. "You know that I didn't get along with my father back then. I was never the favourite, and it hurt like hell."

Pete entwined his fingers with Myka's, and Myka twitched her nose before she continued.

"Dad had just told me that he couldn't spare my mother for a few days so that she could drive with me to Stanford," she said. "This was despite the fact that they'd just visited my sister at her cheerleading summer camp. He'd been dismissing me all summer, and I'd just had enough. I just wanted to escape."

Myka's hair had fallen like a curtain around her face. Pete used his free hand to brush it back so that he could see her eyes.

"I remembered that some of the kids I'd gone to school with had found a bar near the college campus that didn't check ID, so that's where I went, and that's where I found tequila. I was five or six shots in when he started talking to me." Myka paused to give Pete a pitiful look.

"I barely remember what he looked like," she squeaked, tears forming in her eyes again. "But I was drunk, and upset, and he told me that I was beautiful, and no one had ever told me that before! He listened to me go on and on about my father, and then he kissed me and asked if I wanted to go home with him."

Pete was frowning, and Myka felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

"It was stupid, but like I said, I was upset, and you know I never thought that anyone would want me like that," she said. "Afterwards, he drove me home, and he said he'd swing by the store sometime, but of course he never did. I left for college and figured I'd forget about it in time."

"And then you realised..." Pete murmured, and Myka winced.

"And then I realised," she said grimly. "I realised that I was pregnant, and all alone, and that there was no way that I could keep the baby, but I couldn't go through with an abortion. I stayed in school for as long as I could and then applied for a deferment. I got a job in a call centre so that I could afford rent on a tiny apartment, and I made excuse after excuse not to go home. As far as my parents knew, I was still in school, and I was happy to let them keep believing that."

Myka let go of Pete's hand so that she could stand up and start pacing the room.

"I guess I made one too many excuses," she continued. "I was nearly at full term when my mom turned up on my doorstep. She'd gone to my dorm room at Stanford and my roommate had given her my new address. I panicked so much when she turned up that I went into labour."

Pete was watching Myka with a cautious look in his eyes. Myka sensed that he wanted to say something, but was holding back. She held up a finger.

"Give me a minute," she said softly, and walked over to the closet, where she rifled around on the top shelf. When she emerged, she was holding a small square of paper in her fingers, which she held out to Pete.

"They let me keep her for a few hours after she was born," Myka murmured, as Pete studied the photograph of a young Myka gazing at the tiny pink bundle nestled in her arms. "She was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen. It broke my heart to give her away, but I had to. I had to give her the life she deserved."

Pete looked up at Myka and swallowed hard.

"You're mad at me," Myka whimpered. Pete placed the photograph on the bed and quickly stood so that he could fold Myka into his arms. Myka let out a shuddering sigh as she buried her face into Pete's chest.

"I'm not mad at you, Mykes," Pete said gruffly. "I'm mad at that sonofabitch that took advantage of girl with obvious self-esteem issues and then left her all alone to deal with the aftermath."

"He didn't rape me," Myka protested softly, looking into Pete's eyes.

"He may as well have," Pete growled. "It's predators like him that give all guys a bad name. I know I can be a flirt, but I would never, ever, take advantage of a girl."

"You're the reason I believe that not all guys are the same," Myka told him with a gentle smile, pulling away from him so that she could walk back over to the bed. She picked up the photograph of her and baby Josie as she sat down.

"I have never stopped thinking about her," Myka said as Pete sat down beside her and then pulled her backwards so that they could lean against the headboard. "What she looked like, what her favourite colour was, whether she liked to read..." she trailed off and let out a soft sigh.

"It's gotten a whole lot worse lately."

Pete snaked a hand around Myka's waist and spread his fingers across her stomach.

"I can only imagine," he murmured, resting his cheek against her head. Myka placed her hand over his.

"Pete, this baby is the culmination of the some of the most perfect moments of my life," she told him. "I can't wait to have a family with you. It's only been a couple of weeks, and I am completely in love with this child."

Pete frowned at the pout that formed on Myka's face.

"But?" he prompted cautiously.

"But I was completely in love with her," Myka murmured sadly, tracing her fingertip lightly over the photograph in her hand, "and I still gave her away."

"Mykes, the situation is completely different this time," Pete said to her. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I love you."

Myka twisted herself around so that she could drape her legs across Pete's lap and rest her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry that I never told you about this," she said softly, lifting her head to show Pete her worry-filled eyes. "I honestly never thought that she'd come looking for me."

"We're in this together," Pete reassured her, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "We'll figure it out."

Curling herself as close as she could to Pete's body warmth, Myka let out a soft sigh. The pair sat in silence for a short while before Myka made to move away.

"I should go talk to Claudia," she said to Pete. "She's probably worrying herself sick downstairs."

Pete wrapped his arms around her to stop her from getting off the bed.

"Let her worry," he murmured, pulling Myka tightly against him. "Right now, I need a little bit more of this, and I think you do too."

Myka felt colour rise in her cheeks, and she looked at Pete searchingly. Pete kissed her temple, and then Myka buried her face into Pete's neck.

"I love you," she whispered. Silence enveloped them, but it wasn't in the least bit uncomfortable, and eventually their breathing regulated and they both slid into sleep.


End file.
